All About the Brazilian Keratin Hair Smoothing Treatment

When it comes to hair, I’ve pretty much done it all.  I’ve permed it, straightened it, colored it, highlighted it, teased it, curled it, braided it, and styled it in just about every way imagineable (except I’ve never gone really short).  So it’s not shocking that I decided to do one of the latest fads in hair care - the Brazilian Keratin treatment.  

What is the Brazilian Keratin treatment, you ask?  Well, It is a smoothing and straightening hair treatment that you can get to help your hair be virtually maintenance free and frizz free.  It’s great for those with hair that tends to be frizzy and responds to humidity poorly, such as mine, and it also gives a lot of added shine to your hair, so it makes it look a lot healthier.  

This treatment lasts anywhere from 3-5 months, depending on how often you shampoo your hair, since little by little the treatment does come out of the hair naturally, so if you are a person who doesn’t shampoo very often, you may be in luck.  The cost for this procedure, which takes about two to two and a half hours usually, depending on the length of your hair, runs an average of about $150 per hour.  

This means your total bill will fall between $300 and $400 for the process, and you will also need to buy a special shampoo for it that usually runs about $35 for a large bottle, so when it’s all said and done, with the tip and shampoo, you’re probably looking at an almost $500 bill, give or take a little.  My bill happened to be about $485 ,and I have long hair.  The process took 2 ½ hours for me, and it wasn’t bad at all.

I’ve had the thermal reconditioning done before too (also known as Japanese straightening), and that process took about five hours all together and cost a little more.  It also is supposed to last longer though, and your hair is so poker straight that it may not be in everyone’s taste because it lacks body for a while.  

It also has a pretty distinct smell during the process, while the Brazilian Keratin treatment I had, which was the Coppola brand (there are several on the market) did not smell at all during the process.  I did notice a dull smell for the three days following the treatment, but it wasn’t that bad.

Let’s talk about the process and my experience now, and finally my review of what I think about it.  I got to the salon at 3:30.  The technician talked to me about what to expect, looked at my hair so she could gauge my hair’s condition and it’s texture, and told me that I would love my hair when she was done with it.  She took me back to a shampoo chair where she washed my hair with an extremely clarifying shampoo, to make it more porous so the product can get into the hair more deeply.

When my hair was squeaky clean (literally squeaky, I thought what a nightmare it would be if I had to blow it dry right then and there, I’m sure it would look like a giant bale of hay on my head), she took me back to the styling chair where she blew it dry thoroughly.  She went and mixed up the Brazilian concoction and came back, pinning my hair in sections and painting on the mixture with a brush until it was thoroughly saturated.  

She then set a timer for twenty minutes, and I sat there and read a magazine (and almost fell asleep I might add).  She came back after the twenty minutes was up and took me back to the shampoo chair, where she rinsed the product out.  I’m not sure if there was any neutralizer or any other type of solution added to my hair at that time, I was too relaxed to notice much of anything since getting my hair done always makes me a zombie.

I noticed that I did not smell any strong chemicals during this whole time, which was refreshing to me after I’ve had so many treatments, the Japanese straightening, cold smoothing, and hair coloring, that has smelled very strongly.  It did not make my scalp burn or itch at all either.  I’m not sure if that’s just because of the brand they used or what, but that gave me a good feeling about the safety or it.  Now, we were down to the wire.  I was going to see the results of this miraculous treatment finally.  She blew my hair out again, then separated it into sections and began to flat iron them one by one, from root to tip.  She warned me that my hair would seem very flat over the next three days, almost like it was plastered to my head, but I was already used to that because the same thing had happened with the thermal reconditioning.

She also advised that it was very important that I not get my hair wet or wash it for the next 72 hours, which is three days.  I also was not allowed to sweat, so there would be no working out or heavy cardio for the next three days either.  I was advised against putting any kind of hair tie or clips in my hair, and not even tucking my hair behind my ears, since the hairs shape would be very moldable while the product took hold over the next couple of days.

When she was done flat ironing, I couldn’t believe how shiny my hair looked. Plus it was straight - really straight!  Almost too straight, but I knew that this was not going to be exactly how straight it would look all the time.  The hair itself looked great, but I admit I had a hard time seeing myself with absolutely zero body to my hair.  The next three days were torture.  As it happened, it rained for three days straight, much to my chagrin.  

But I made sure I had my handy umbrella with me at all times and I used it quite a bit during those three days!  The hardest part was not getting any moisture on it, as you don’t realize how hard it is to do that when you’re around water.  You still have to shower, so I wore a shower cap and just hoped that it would keep every drop of water out.  It worked pretty well except I know a few little droplets got on there when I took it off my head.

My hair really looked good when I left the salon, however, the flatness was really hard for me to deal with.  And it looked a bit duller and even flatter the next day.  However, I knew that as soon as I washed it, it would look much better.  So, the third day FINALLY came, and I washed my hair with my special sodium laurel sulfate free shampoo.  By the way, sodium is what takes the product out of the hair faster, so you cannot use any products with sodium based ingredients in them either.

I blew it dry.  Wow, it did look pretty amazing.  It was not totally poker straight like when I got the thermal reconditioning done, but it was shiny, no frizz, and it had a really healthy look to it and felt silky smooth to the touch.  I’d have to say I like the outcome better than the thermal reconditioning, just because I can still have a tiny bit of wave to it with this.  I wish it lasted as long, but hey, you can’t have everything I suppose!  

So that’s my review of the Brazilian Keratin hair treatment.  I would recommend it to anyone who wants hair that is more manageable with less maintenance, and anyone who wants to tame frizz and eliminate some of the curl from the hair, especially during the treacherous summer months we have here in Ohio where humidity reaches ridiculous levels.